With the excitement of what's happening in our CHEBWA group, I've been diving head first into planning, creating, and meeting with next year's Leadership Council. There is an energy among the leaders that is contagious and we are having a great time working together exploring new ways to serve the group's members. Everything that happens in my life essentially happens to my family as well. That means that there is a lot of excitement in the Wiegand home as we make plans for 2011-2012; for our school year and now CHEBWA's. One of the joys of home education is that we get to mix "school" with everyday life and our children get to be a part of our acts of service and learn first hand how to use their own gifts to bless others.

That being said, our school day today has been a mix of the usual house cleaning and home making along with a few CHEBWA tasks that I have thrown in randomly when I had a free minute. It has gone a little something like this: coffee, email, CHEBWA Teens fb page invites, breakfast, dinner in the crock pot, laundry, start bread making for a marathon bread day, Bible, History, bread, laundry, design CHEBWA business cards, bread, Math 4, print business cards, bread, help Josh with Language Arts, laundry, add veggies to the crock pot, lunch, bread, find the CHEBWA cards covered with jelly, wait. . . seriously? Oh, yes. Seriously. One of my dear children, and I think I know which one, decided to eat lunch while examining my handiwork. I had shown the kids the cards after I printed them, but this child wanted a closer look, a much closer look.

Child raising on its own requires patience, homeschooling just kicks it up a notch. Since I have been living in this heightened state of character purification for a while now, my Jelly Bandit didn't receive the wrath of a frazzled and furious mom. God silenced me after my initial shock and I realized that my work was being admired and not maliciously attacked. When I am honest about how that patience was developed in me, it is clearly a Gift from God. He has managed to use trials and difficult situations to refine my character, and the majority of those difficulties are related to my choice to keep my kids at home and direct their education. Homeschooling is not easy.

Even though this was a "little" moment in our day, it was a moment where I was able to catch a glimpse of how homeschooling has, and is, changing us. Yes, it is is difficult, but that's why I love it. With kids constantly underfoot, the never ending demands of house keeping, lessons to correct, and character to refine, it is the perfect "laboratory" for developing strong character. If we are willing to be teachable, even as we teach, we will find ourselves becoming more faithful servants of the God who is molding us in His image. It teaches us to serve each other as Jesus did and that gift is worth pursuing at all cost.

Homeschooling has been a blessing in our home for the last ten years and I'm looking forward to sharing the journey of home education with all of you! To God be the Glory, -Jessie Wiegand

P.S. If anything in this post gave you the impression that I have it all together: while writing this, I received a phone call from my 12 year old son informing me that I forgot to pick him up from Boy Scouts. Oh, yes. Seriously.

This was huge for me. When I was able to finally wrangle my selfishness, my self-centeredness - and realize my children were not out to "get me", they were just children who needed love and attention and guidance and training.....that changed everything!! (and I still struggle. Often!)